


never judge a book by its cover

by autumnchills



Category: 9-1-1 (TV), 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: 9-1-1/Lone Star Crossover, Canon Compliant, Canon Crossover, Character Study, Episode Fix-it, Evan "Buck" Buckley-centric, believe it or not lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:08:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29191296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autumnchills/pseuds/autumnchills
Summary: “Hmm,” Owen says, sliding over to the espresso machine. “Buck. Something about that name is familiar,” he says.“I mean you might have heard someone mention him by name,” Paul suggests. “It’s not like you guys weren’t around each other. You just didn’t meet.”Owen frowns and fiddles with the machine a bit more.  “I don’t think it’s that. Did any of you guys get a full name?”“Buck’s a nickname,” Mateo chimes in. “I think his last name is Buckley.”Owens' head snaps up. “Oh,” he says in realization. “Oh, Buckley.”—The 126 reflect on Evan Buckley and who he is because, apparently, he’s not the same guy they met on the wildfire frontline.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & TK Strand
Comments: 68
Kudos: 815
Collections: 9-1-1 Tales





	never judge a book by its cover

**Author's Note:**

> **AUTHOR’S NOTE (PLEASE READ):** This fic is an embellished canon-compliant story in which the 126 all talk about Buck because I felt like they didn’t get to meet him as the person he’s grown into and that we see. I understand Buck being the “creepy dude” to Marjan was meant as a joke but it’s not who Buck _is_. This fic was written for completely personal reasons, and is completely self-indulgent, but I wanted to share for anyone who might be interested. There are also non-canon events in here but it’s fan fiction, so I took creative liberties.
> 
> Special Thank You to my Beta Reader [MyShipSailsHere](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyShipSailsHere/pseuds/MyShipSailsHere)!

When the 126 crew pulls into town at the break of dawn from the fight on the frontline of the wildfires, an interim captain has already been appointed and there are already firefighters getting ready for the day. They ache down to their bones from the amount of work they put in, but it’s worth it because they’re awarded a four day weekend before they have to return back to schedule.

Owen gets a check-up at the hospital, not only for his concussion but to check his lungs for potential smoke damage, too. TK visits with Carlos, and the others all split off to their respective homes. It’s not until the next week that they all see each other again, and with all the people they met from other stations, the 118 becomes a blob among blurs from the days they spent out there.

It’s not until even Captain Strand is back in the saddle that Paul remembers them. The description of a character in his book reminds him of Buck, the blonde guy from Los Angeles. He hadn’t gotten the chance to properly meet him, but he’d seemed pretty nice.

“Hey,” Paul calls over to Marjan from his seat at the counter. “Did you ever follow that Buck guy back on Instagram?”

Marjan shakes her head as she prepares herself a cup of coffee. “Honestly, I forgot. But I don’t know if I want to,” she answers hesitantly. “Dude would not stop staring at me during Cap’s speech. It was kind of weird.”

“Was he like… leering?” Paul asks.

Marjan shrugs as TK enters the kitchen. “Not really. And I mean the Diaz guy said he was harmless.”

“Who is?” TK asks, curious about the current conversation.

“That guy who wouldn’t stop looking at me when your dad was talking,” Marjan explains. “He was from the 118 in Los Angeles and came with the soldier and the woman who went with Cap in the helicopter.”

“Oh, Buck?” TK asks, a smile spreading on his face. “He was pretty cool. I don’t think he was interested in you, though.”

Paul raises an eyebrow and lowers his book from where it covers his face. “What makes you say that?”

“For one, the dude couldn’t stop talking about the different calls they’ve had in LA. He might’ve just seen one of your viral videos and is a fan.”

Marjan shrugs her shoulders. “Maybe,” she thinks. She sips at her coffee then tilts her head in thought. “That actually makes a lot more sense and now I feel bad for being a bit cold.”

TK scoffs. “Nah, don’t feel bad. It looked weird at the start. Dude was definitely chill, though.”

“You said _for one_ , though. Were there other reasons?” Paul asks.

“Oh yeah,” TK smirks. “I think he was trying to flirt with me? He said we should get together if I were ever in LA. I kinda got the vibe that he was looking at me a little differently after I saved his life.” TK puffs his chest and Paul rolls his eyes. 

“Getting together doesn’t necessarily mean going out on a date,” Marjan laughs. “He could have meant to hang out or something.”

“Yeah,” TK shrugs. “But there was also this moment we had that made me think he thought there was something. We kind of had a heart to heart— if I could even call it that.” 

“When?” Paul asks.

“I was pissed off because no one was going after my dad,” he explains. “He came and… well, comforted me. That guy’s got a heart of gold, though, that’s for sure. He’d definitely be my type if I were looking. I just haven’t really looked at any guys like that since Carlos and I started dating.”

“That Buck _was_ a looker,” Mateo says, seemingly appearing out of thin air at Paul’s side.

Everyone jumps at the new voice, not having seen him enter the room.

“Mateo…” TK says slowly. “Do--? Do you like guys, too?”

“What? Nah, I’m straight but I’m not blind,” he says matter of factly. “Dude had bigger muscles than Paul.”

Paul’s book hits the counter with a small smack. “No way,” the man protests.

“Yes way, actually,” TK grins. He leans over to the fruit basket on the center counter and rummages for an apple. “At the least, you guys are tied.”

“Who we talking about?” Judd asks as he wanders into the kitchen. The space is becoming crowded, but no one complains, shuffling aside as he steps over to a cupboard.

“Buck, from the 118.” Marjan supplies.

“What about him?” Judd huffs. He pulls a bowl down from the cupboard and moves to the counter to grab one of the chip bags. 

“His looks,” Paul says then. “TK and Mateo said that his muscles are bigger than mine.”

“He’s got a great jawline, too,” Judd comments.

Everyone’s eyes snap to him in shock as he pours chips into the bowl. 

“What? I saw the guy. I ain’t blind.” 

Mateo raises his hands up in the air toward Judd with a whispered, “Thank you,” muttered under his breath. 

Judd moves past them and sits on Paul’s other side as Owen enters.

“Who did Judd see?”

TK rolls his eyes as yet another person jumps into the conversation.

“Buck,” TK says. “From the 118. You were with one of their paramedics in the helicopter.”

“Ah,” Owen hums. “I remember her— name’s Hen— but not so much the guys. That part’s a bit hazy.”

“I think they’d already been dismissed by the time you were waking up,” Judd tells him. “They packed up and said their goodbyes pretty quick.”

“Hmm,” Owen says, sliding over to the espresso machine. “Buck. Something about that name is familiar,” he says.

“I mean you might have heard someone mention him by name,” Paul suggests. “It’s not like you guys weren’t around each other. You just didn’t meet.”

Owen frowns and fiddles with the machine a bit more. “I don’t think it’s that. Did any of you guys get a full name?”

“Buck’s a nickname,” Mateo chimes in. “I think his last name is Buckley.”

Owens' head snaps up. “Oh,” he says in realization. “Oh, _Buckley_. Do any of you have a picture?”

“Um, I might be able to find his Insta,” Marjan says. “Hold up.” She sets down her coffee mug and pulls out her phone. Owen moves to peer over her shoulder as she taps at her screen. 

She finds Diaz’s profile first, then goes to his following to search for Buck. Sure enough, one Evan Buckley pops up. She taps on the profile and hands it over to Captain Strand and he starts nodding.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s him. I’ll be damned. I had no idea they were sending him out,” Owen says. “I’m kind of mad I didn’t get the chance to properly meet him.” He passes the phone back to Marjan and steps back over to his espresso. 

Marjan looks at the page, trying to see if she can place Buck from anywhere, but she doesn’t manage. There are plenty of photos that clearly show he’s a firefighter, but there aren’t any viral posts, nor does the guy reference any viral videos on his own.

“Who is he?” TK asks, intrigued by his dad’s interest in the man. Buck himself hadn’t mentioned ever meeting his father— he supposes that Buck also didn’t know his last name— and he sure hadn’t mentioned any crazy calls that made national news. He talked about a bus in a high rise, but that seemed to be his biggest story after scaling a rollercoaster. 

“He’s one of the guys I tried to recruit,” Owen says. “Couldn’t even get an in-person interview with him, though. We ended up talking for a bit.”

“No offense, but a cishet white man doesn’t sound like your recruiting quota, Cap,” Marjan quips.

Owen laughs. He remembers their conversation during her interview very clearly. 

“He was one of two or three white guys that I looked at. I wasn’t looking to fill a quota. I was looking to build a team.”

“And Buck was team material?” she asks doubtfully.

“I know he doesn’t look it, but the kid’s a fighter,” Owen said. 

“A fighter?” Judd challenges. “Pretty boy from Los Angeles is a fighter? What’d he ever fight for?” It doesn’t sound as harsh as the words are, and most of the others were thinking it, too.

“His job,” Owen says simply. “When I reached out to Evan, he was just getting back to work after an accident that should have left him unable to be a firefighter. He wasn’t about to uproot himself from his job or his family.”

“What happened to him?” Mateo asks. “Dude sounded like an adrenaline junkie— was it some rescue gone wrong?”

“No,” Owen says. He abandons his coffee to give his full attention to his team again. “Any of you guys ever heard about what happened in the Spring of 2019 in Los Angeles?”

The team falls silent, trying to think of any news they would have caught. Things involving firefighters didn’t always make the national news, so you would have to be keeping up with specific sites or social media to hear about things cross country.

Paul is the first to get it, though. 

“The bombs,” Paul says. 

“Bombs?” Mateo nearly shouts.

“Long story short, this guy, practically a kid— couldn’t be more than eighteen or nineteen— started making bombs to get back at the people that put his dad in jail. One of the people he was targeting was Captain Nash of the 118.”

“Jesus,” Judd mutters, rubbing a hand over his mouth. “How do you know all this?”

“A lot of it was in news reports, but I got Nash himself on the phone when I was inquiring about Buck.”

“How did Buck get involved?” TK asks, steering them back on track.

“He was in the ladder truck that Captain Nash was supposed to be in when it exploded.”

“No shit,” Marjan gasps. “I _did_ hear about this. Don’t tell me Buck was—”

“The one that ended up under that truck?” Owen finishes. “That would be him. Crushed the bone at the bottom of his leg. Doctors said he’d walk, but they hadn’t been sure about him ever firefighting again.”

“How long exactly did you talk to him?” TK asks, fiddling with the apple he picked out but never bothered to eat. “You never mentioned him as a choice but you sound so invested in the dude.”

“Oh, uh. An hour or two?” Owen guesses. “He shared a lot with me. Kid had a bunch to say, but it wasn’t like I wasn’t asking. And, you know, I shared some sage advice, too. Shared some of my own war stories.”

TK nods, surprised but still understanding. He’d talked to Buck himself. It’d seemed like the guy was willing to share personal stuff with just about anyone who actually gave a shit.

Judd crunches loudly on a chip. “How long before he recertified?” he asks, already knowing how stubborn Buck was from their only meeting. 

“Five months.”

Judd stops chewing. “Five?”

Owen nods.

“No way,” Paul says. Marjan whistles and picks up her phone again.

“Broke an LAFD Academy record, too,” Owen adds.

“Wait, that doesn’t really add up,” TK says. “That ladder incident was in what? Late April or early May?” Owen nods. “We weren’t recruiting yet in September. You said you were talking to him when he got back to work.”

“Yeah, well, there were some things that prevented him from coming back right away. Those aren’t in the news, though. I’m not sure it’s my place to share.”

“A civilian award?” Marjan asks, confused as she stares at her phone. “I don’t understand.”

“Where’d you see that?” Owen asks.

“It’s in his tagged photos. I think this is his sister’s account.” She passes him the phone again and he looks down at it.

“That would be one of the things,” Owen mutters under his breath. “Yeah. This was from the work he did during the tsunami.”

“Santa Monica?” Mateo questions. Owen nods. “Why is it a Civilian Award, though?”

“He was out of work at the time,” Owen explains. “Once again, for reasons I shouldn’t share.”

“Why was he helping then?” Judd asks. “No way the kid was stupid enough to run into that mess without his team, even if he was off duty— or out of work, whatever. Kid seemed like a dumbass but not dumb.”

“He was caught in the tsunami,” TK realizes then. “Wasn’t he?”

“Yeah,” Owen confirms. “He was caught up in it with his partner’s son.”

“Daaammn,” Marjan curses, long and drawn out. “How is this the same guy we met?”

“For real,” Mateo adds. “Buck didn’t talk about any of this. Why wouldn’t he when surviving a _tsunami_ beats responding to tornadoes? That’s so much cooler.” 

Owen smiles sadly, a certain glint to his eyes. 

Paul nudges Mateo. “No one wants to talk about their traumas, probie.”

“Oh,” Mateo’s demeanor shifts. “Right.”

The team falls silent, all just soaking in the new information.

“And here I thought he was creepy,” Marjan muses.

Paul and TK burst into nervous giggles and Owen sends her a startled look.

“He was staring at me!” She defends herself. “What was I supposed to think?”

Everyone laughs now, but TK pulls it together just as fast as he’d started.

“No,” TK says before anyone can say anything else. “That’s super valid. You’re a woman and guys objectify you all the time—”

Marjan groans. “That’s so not comforting, TK—”

“—and, either way, it wasn’t cool, but now you know it wasn’t because he actually was trying to objectify you or be disrespectful,” TK finishes. “No one’s asking you to get over it if you were uncomfortable, but I’m hoping knowing more about him has helped ease that.”

Marjan nods. “Yeah. I wouldn’t say it made me uncomfortable because it’s not like his eyes raked up and down my body and he never even approached me. I was just a little unsure of the guy. His friend said he was kind of a fan, but most of my so-called fans _are_ objectifying men.”

Paul doesn’t bother to conceal his wince. “That’s ass.”

“And now,” she goes on, “I feel oddly emotional for the little weirdo. That’s a lot of crap for him to deal with. Damn trooper right there.”

“Little?” Mateo mutters under his breath. “Isn’t Buck older than most of us?” Mateo wonders out loud.

Owen shrugs at Marjan, not having heard Mateo. “As I said, he’s a fighter.”

“Guess he oughta be if he pulled off all that _and_ stole the ladder truck to go after you and his friend,” Judd considers. He shakes his head fondly. “The balls on that kid.”

“He sure sounds like it,” Paul agrees with the captain. “ _I’m_ kind of mad I didn’t get the chance to properly meet him, now.”

“Hey,” Owen pats him on the back as he passes by. “You never know. Maybe someday we’ll be needed in LA.”

Paul can only tilt his head in consideration as he picks his book back up again. Around him, the team disperses, and Paul flips to the page he was on.

If there was one thing he should have learned from all of the books he reads, it was that you should never judge one by its cover.

**Author's Note:**

> ☼ Yeah, like I said, creative liberties or whateva lol - If you read this and enjoyed it, I’m glad I could satisfy more than just myself :) I also realize that there’s another fic (not mine) in which the team wonders why Marjan never followed Buck on instagram and I promise I didn’t know it existed until right before I typed up these end notes. I hope this followed a different enough theme that the other author knows that this wasn’t a copy!
> 
> EDIT: I just posted this a couple of hours ago, but I'm realizing that the reason that the writers got it so wrong with how Buck would come off to people is because these were Lone Star writers and not 911 writers. (I checked). They don't know Buck at all apparently. 
> 
> ☼ Please leave kudos/comments as they encourage me to write more! Be sure to let me know if you think I’m missing any necessary/supplementary tags or if you think a tag I have is incorrect.
> 
> ☼ If you actually read these notes, please use this (🔥) emoji in your comment! Even if you don’t have a comment in mind, think of it as some extra kudos that I will appreciate and love! 🥰


End file.
